I purged gigabytes of invisible app junk from my phone to avoid paying for cloud storage
A tech journalist shares his personal experience of manually purging residual app data and cache files from his Android phone to avoid paying for cloud storage. He recommends using the open-source app SD Maid 2/SE to identify and remove invisible junk files that accumulate over time.
Why it matters
As cloud storage costs rise, users are increasingly looking for ways to optimize local device storage and reduce reliance on subscription-based digital services.
Credit: Lucas Gouveia / Android Police By Akshay Bhalla Published Aug 24, 2026, 8:00 AM EDT Akshay Bhalla was the former game guides editor for Screen Rant and the technology editor at MensXP. He has previously written about smartphones, apps, streaming, gadgets and games for print, digital, and TV media outlets. When he isn’t writing about tech, he can often be found playing JRPGs, listening to music or playing with his three dogs. Sign in to your Android Police account Add Us Add on Google Preferred Source Google Discover Google News Summary Generate a summary of this story Like Like follow Follow followed Followed Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap At one point, we've all run out of storage on our phones, and freeing up space can…
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